Boxing Fiascos

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 898, 15 February 1930, Page 9

Boxing Fiascos

MEMORIES OF OTHER DAYS European Boom of 1914

Three heavy-weight contests have been won on a foul within the last few weeks (says a writer in the London “Observer”), and ?ll between men with at least some prehensions to be considered as possible “world’s champions.” There can be no more unsatisfactory end to a big fight than this; it generally causes bad blood between the boxers, and always leads to a lot of discussion about what might have happened, the rival camps each asserting that their man would have won if—etc. It is rather remarkable that both the meetings between Camera and Stribling should have ended in this indecisive way, with a technical, “win” for each man, to be followed by Phil Scott’s similar win on a foul against Von Porat, but such things have happened before when heavy-weights have fought. On July 16, 1914, a contest took place at Olympia which aroused far greater interest and discussion, both before and after the event, than any of these recent affairs. This was between Georges Carpentier, at the time the idol of the sporting community in France and “Gunboat” Smith, a rugged boxer who had beaten many wePknown men like Frank Moran, Jess "Willard, Sam Langford and Bombardier Wells. Carpentier was just twentyone at this time, and Smith seven years older.

This was one of the contests which marked the great boxing boom of 1914, a boom cut short by the outbreak of war. One of the largest crowds ever seen at a boxing match assembled at Olympia that night, including a great many women. The match had caught the popular imagination, for both men had a distinct personality and were a great contrast m appearance, the one lissome, well groomed and a typical athlete, the other rather ungainly but a powerful figure, with a rugged, battered face. FRANCE V. AMERICA The fight went for a time much as one would expect from the appearance of the opponents, Smith rushing in and trying to land one of the terrible right swings for which he was famous. Carpentier boxing coolly and scoring with well-placed blows almost at will. In the fourth round came the first sensation. Smith was knocked down by a beautiful right cross to the jaw. The referee, Mr. Corri, began to count and had reached “nine,” when the gong boomed. Many thought that - Smith had been counted out, and Carpentier began to receive the congratulations of his friends—but it was a mistake! The gong was sounded on the instructions of the timekeeper, but the referee, on whose decision the matter rested, had not counted him out. So the fight went on, all in favour of the Frenchman, until the sixth round when the end came. Carpentier began the round as if lie had taken the measure of his man and was determined to finish the business. At last, after a furious swing, he overbalanced and fell on hands and knees. While he was in his position, Smith drew back his right hand, measured the distance with his left, and let drive a tremendous punch. Apparently he realised at the last moment that his opponent was “down,” and he was able to turn the blow into a light, glancing one, which would scarcely have flicked away a housefly. However, a foul was declared, and so the event ended. A pitiable pose inside the ring, a display of hysteria in the Frenchman’s corner, and a general uproar in the hall banished judicial calmness and gave reign to a stampeded conclusion. The scene of Camera’s second meeting with Stribling, the Velodrom d’Hiver, Paris, was the arena in which Jack Johnson, then champion of the world, beat Frank Moran in a fight for the championship on June 27, 1914. Johnson had held the title since he beat Jeffries at Reno in 1910, and had only fought once in the interval, when he beat Jim Flynn at Las Vegas in 1912; he had put on weight and lived a life that had certainly done him no good—from a boxing point of view. Moran was an American dentist who had taken to pugilism, immensely powerful, but clumsy and slow in comparison with Johnson. A SORRY SPECTACLE This, too, was a brilliant scene, and the number of well-dressed, bejewelled women was far greater than at Olympia a fortnight later. This French Wonderland was a coyered cycle track, sur-

rounded by boxes and galleries, and even larger than Olympia. It was a terribly hot night, and many men sat in their shirt sleeves. Over the ring were the usual powerful lights, which threw a greenish tint over the upturned faces of the spectators, an effect which the women present had certainly not foreseen!! ! Carpentier, in white flannels and looking far more nervous than at one of his own fights, was the referee. The fight itself was tedious. Johnson was only a shadow of his former self, Moran could not hurt him; both men were very tired by the end. There was a lot of talk after it was over about the light having been “framed”; it was said that Johnson could have knocked his man out, but refrained in the hope of getting a second match—and a second purse! I never believed it, for I heard Johnson say to his seconds, as he left his corner at the beginning of the seventh round, “I’ll get him this time, boys,” and he certainly seemed to be doing his best, but had no longer got the necessary sting in his punches. The scene which followed the referee’s decision—a perfectly correct one—was, to my mind, far more remarkable than the fight itself. Johnson, though very unpopular in his own country at that time, had spent money lavishly—while he had it —in Paris, and had gained some notoriet3 r , if not popularity, with a certain section of the people there, but most of the Englishmen and Americans present were surprised and probably not pleased to see the rush by men and women for the ring, when the decision was made, to see husbands helping their wives through the ropes so that they might kiss that tired, hot negro as he sat in his corner. That is not a pleasant memory of boxing of other days.